


The Witch on Cackling Mountain

by forthecentury



Series: 13th Month Coven [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, M/M, Pre-Relationship, fantasy-based violence, half-siren!Seokmin, witch!jisoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:47:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28018716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forthecentury/pseuds/forthecentury
Summary: "Look, I'm not saying this is a bad idea, but I think it might be kind of a bad idea.""What, this?"Jisoo's casual, nonchalant air is accompanied by a soggy, muted crunch as the last of the rotten planks are torn away from the opening of the cellar entrance. A damp, sticky smell wafts up to meet them, and Seokmin gags as he accidentally takes a whiff. It's a god-awful mixture of mold, mildew, and something rotten, deeply reminiscent of fish carcasses.Oh, Mama, Seokmin laments internally, gazing forlornly down at the narrow stone steps,I should've never left the sea, even for a pretty boy.
Relationships: Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Lee Seokmin | DK
Series: 13th Month Coven [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2052279
Comments: 8
Kudos: 46





	The Witch on Cackling Mountain

_The world is large, but in us_

_it is as deep as the sea._

_-R.M. Rilke_

* * *

"Look, I'm not saying this is a bad idea, but I think it might be kind of a bad idea."

"What, this?"

Jisoo's casual, nonchalant air is accompanied by a soggy, muted _crunch_ as the last of the rotten planks are torn away from the opening of the cellar entrance. A damp, sticky smell wafts up to meet them, and Seokmin gags as he accidentally takes a whiff. It's a god-awful mixture of mold, mildew, and something rotten, deeply reminiscent of fish carcasses.

_Oh, Mama_ , Seokmin laments internally, gazing forlornly down at the narrow stone steps, _I should've never left the sea, even for a pretty boy._

Even the ever calm, serene expression on Jisoo's face gives away to the faint wrinkle of his nose.

"Eugh. Okay, I will admit this isn't the best or cleanest way in, but it is a way in."

That’s one way of putting it. Admittedly, it’s not like they could traipse through the luscious fields of vegetables and fruits surrounding the plain, inconspicuous cabin and waltz up to the front door asking for entry. Seokmin has a feeling the witch in there probably wouldn’t like it; the starving farmers in the desolate fields below have been murdered and tortured for doing less. It’s almost comical, seeing the difference between the witch’s territory and the humans'—while the frozen, windswept peaks of Cackling Mountain should be harsh and ill-fitted for plant growth, it was here that the best produce was grown. Seokmin can kind of understand why someone would risk a witch’s wrath for some food. What else could you do when your children were growing gaunt and your families wasting away?

Jisoo is ruffling through his never-ending rucksack as Seokmin ponders, sinking elbow-deep into the tiny bag before managing to retrieve a lantern and some matches. The orange glow of the flame dances along the sides of the tunnel once the lantern is lit, and then sinks into the walls. Even the light couldn't escape the terrible, ominous vibe lurking below them. Once again, Seokmin briefly wonders why he came ashore for this.

And then Jisoo turns, flashing him a cheeky little grin that simultaneously manages to melt his insides and remind him why he ended up agreeing to this madness.

"Alright, I won't make you go down first. Stay close, alright? Hyung's got you."

"Right," Seokmin stammers, clutching the hilt of the dagger at his waist, and takes one last, big gulp of fresh air before following Jisoo down into the cellar.

Heaven almighty, even the air feels icky on his skin.

He's going to have a word with Jeonghan, once he gets back. It would've made sense for someone like Minghao or Seungkwan to go with Jisoo—capable witches to go up against an equally terrifying witch—instead of himself. Cackling Mountain is a long way from the sea, where Seokmin feels most of his strengths lie.

But then again, it's Jeonghan, who's got a bratty, crafty streak a mile long and responded to Seokmin's sputtering at the assignment with a wink and a flippant, "You like working with Jisoo though, don't you, Seokminnie?"

He likes looking at Jisoo's face too, and more recently his broad shoulders and generous chest, but that's not going to help them on their assignment, is it? If anything, it's probably more detrimental than anything else; Seokmin is a blushing mess around Jisoo on a regular day at best. He's got to focus right now.

Speaking of focus, he's definitely let his mind wander again when he should've been keeping an eye out. Seokmin despairs momentarily and endeavours to quicken his pace, sticking close to Jisoo's back as they crept down the tunnel in secret. Jisoo looks back at him, but mercifully doesn't comment on it.

"Watch your head," he whispers instead, reaching back to brush the top of Seokmin's head before ducking under a particularly low, sagging beam. Seokmin feels his skin prickle, and is halfway to scolding himself for reacting so dramatically to such an innocent touch before he realizes the prickling isn't going away, and there's a very small, sturdy-looking trapdoor at the end of the tunnel before them.

Jisoo stops before the trapdoor and presses his palm flat against it, eyes closing as he murmurs under his breath. The hairs stand up at the base of Seokmin's neck now, feeling like a perpetual itch, and he can almost hear the humming of two magical auras pulsing against each other.

When Jisoo opens his eyes again, they're glowing blue.

"I'm going to extinguish the lantern," he says. "And then I'm going to break the trapdoor down, so be ready okay? She knows we’re here."

"O-Okay," Seokmin nods, and fiddles with the voice amplifier hanging around his neck, taking care to press the cold metal firmly against his face and tighten the straps behind his ears. He's under strict orders from Wonwoo to return it unscathed, because it's still technically a prototype, but Seokmin wants to tell their resident mad scientist not to get his hopes up, really. It's not like any of them have a good record of keeping their equipment intact.

Jisoo holds up the lantern, purses his lips and blows the flame out with a quick huff of air. They plunge into darkness, but only for a short moment, because the next thing Seokmin knows there's a sound like a cannon going off and the trapdoor blasts apart in a mess of splinters and twisted locks.

Jisoo leaps into the room, Seokmin close behind, but that's as far as they get before they're instantly ambushed.

Ugly, gnarly vines snatch at his ankles and Seokmin yelps in shock as his feet are yanked out from beneath him. He falls, and then yells louder as the vines drag him high, high up towards the roof of the cabin. Funny, it looks so much bigger on the inside than it did from the base of the treacherous mountain.

"Seokmin!" Jisoo yells, and Seokmin tries to shout back, but he's far too busy battling off the vines that are currently curling around his middle, squeezing the air out of him as he's pulled further and further away.

"Now now," a rasping voice echoed around the cabin, and the air crackled with the sound of magic colliding. "Trespassers will not be tolerated."

It's hard to fight back when he's hanging upside down like a bat, Seokmin thinks as he desperately hacks at the vines with his dagger. It seems like this whole cabin is filled with them, curling against the walls, creeping along the rafters, almost eating the place up from the inside. It’s also furiously humid, the air damp and hanging heavy around them. Seokmin’s sweating within minutes, palms getting so damp he almost drops his dagger when he twists and comes face to face with a weathered skull tangled amongst the thicket, cracks showing on the aged bone. Heavens, this must be one of the many unlucky, starving villagers that got snagged in the witch's trap as they tried to steal food from her. If Seokmin doesn't get himself out of this mess soon he's gonna end up looking like that too.

_Not true_ , his brain supplies unhelpfully. _Jisoo did promise he's got our backs_.

And great, now he just feels stupid. Relying on Jisoo like he's a hopeless little fry, floundering in the waves of the big blue sea. Or rather, stuck in a tangle of vines as Jisoo battles for his life against that old crone. Seriously, he's going to give Jeonghan a piece of his mind when he gets back for talking him into taking this assignment.

Unfortunately, that's the exact moment the vines yanks him in its hold, and the sudden motion catches Seokmin by surprise. His dagger slips from his damp palms, and it clatters onto the floor below, catching both witches' attention.

Their enemy sneers up at Seokmin through her frizzly dark hair, showing yellowed teeth and burning red eyes. 

"I do love a good fish soup," the witch hisses at Jisoo, her withered hands sparking with magic as she bears down on Jisoo's protective spell. "But I think that nasty little trout that got caught in my net up there wouldn't be good for anything other than fishing chum, wouldn't you agree?"

Seokmin blanches, skin going cold at the mere thought of getting ground into _chum_ , oh, dear god—

—and then pauses, because it's not just his skin that's getting cold. His fingertips, his nose, the very air inside the cabin is suddenly dropping in temperatures. Gone is the oppressive humidity. Now, ice crawls up the vines, which shiver and curls into itself. The punishing hold on Seokmin loosens just enough for him to wiggle and clamber over to some of the thicker, sturdier vines against the wall.

His breath comes up in a puff of condensation, the very air in the cabin growing frigid thanks to Jisoo's core magic. His eyes glow a brilliant shade of ice blue, and frost clings to the tips of his white hair. The old crone is slinking back, hissing in pain as frostbite crawls up her gnarled fingers and bone-thin arms. Jisoo advances on her, the cold coming off him in waves, and when he speaks his words seem to sink into the cabin like permafrost.

"Don't you _dare_ touch Seokmin."

The witch howls, lifting her damaged hands, and the vines wrangle themselves to life, twisting and turning and making the wood in the cabin groan from stress. Seokmin watches in horror as a tree trunk— _a tree trunk!_ —pushes itself up from the floorboards until it's towering over Jisoo, looming with the intent to crush, and he doesn't even think before grabbing the skull caught in the vines above him and hurling it at the witch's head. It’s a pitch Jihoon would've been proud of.

The skull, good as his aim was, doesn't manage to knock her out and only succeeds in shattering and pissing her off even more. No matter, though, because now the witch is looking up at him, her attention is on him, and Seokmin knows he's caught her.

" **Don't move.** "

The sonorous quality of his voice, projected by the amplifier around his mouth, floats down and washes over her. The words seem to dull the sounds all around them, from the creaking of the vines to the crunching of the ice.

Seokmin waits until he sees the witch's red eyes glaze over, going blank as one caught in a siren's song is wont to do. Seokmin had never truly liked it, seeing people become mindless puppets under his control, but right now, he couldn't really care less. He takes a deep breath and glances over at the tree trunk inching slowly towards Jisoo.

" **Loosen the vines around me. And get rid of that.** "

The vines retract at once, letting blessed air back into his lungs, and the tree instantly wrinkles in on itself, bark and wood crumbling into wood chippings all over the icy floor. Jisoo side-steps the bits of leftover wood and hurries to the vine Seokmin has crawled to and is trying to ease himself down from.

"Here, take my hand," Jisoo says, and Seokmin doesn't even flinch when he grasps Jisoo's ice cold fingers, only relishing in his relief at planting his two feet flat on the floor once more, with Jisoo holding him tightly.

"Watch your step," he says, even as he taps his foot against the ground and clears a nice little path free of any ice for Seokmin to slip on. A perfect gentleman, seriously. Is it really any surprise that Seokmin is kind of head-over-heels for this guy?

"Thanks," Seokmin replies, sheepish, and tugs his amplifier away from his face. "Sorry I got, um, caught right away."

"Don't be," Jisoo says at once. "If it had been me on the right side, I would've been the one tangled in those vines. I'm just glad you didn't have to battle her head on."

"Remind me to never let Jeonghan pick out my assignments for me ever again," Seokmin grumbles. That makes Jisoo laugh, though he eyes the witch warily.

"Well, I'm glad it was you here with me. I certainly wasn't getting anywhere close to stopping her in her tracks."

"What are we gonna do with her?" Seokmin asks. He wonders if they ought to arrest her, but a witch with powers like this, it's not likely she'll go quietly

Jisoo is silent for a thoughtful moment before he says quietly, "I think we should get rid of her here."

Seokmin rounds on him, eyes wide, and Jisoo lifts a hand.

"She was living on borrowed time," he explains. "Those villagers she was capturing, she was draining them of their life energy and storing them in these vines to keep herself alive. It's likely that she would've expired at least a century ago, had she not been killing others to prolong her life."

"Oh my god," Seokmin whispers, faint, and Jisoo grimaces, looking down at the broken skull on the floor.

"I will make it quick and painless," he says decisively. "Though in reality, the moment she ran out of life energy from the vines she would have dissolved into dust immediately."

His eyes dart over Seokmin's face for a moment, searching, and Seokmin is kind of touched that he's taking Seokmin's thoughts into consideration. He tries to smile reassuringly, one that Jisoo returns after a moment. He raises his hands and draws ice up on the floor, where it climbs higher and higher over the witch until it encases her entirely.

"Whoa," Seokmin stares. "Is she still alive in there?"

"Not for long," Jisoo mutters, turning. He squeezed between two vines next to the empty fireplace and drags a heavy, dangerous-looking fire poker out. "Lucky for her, she won't feel a thing."

Seokmin nods, hands clenched at his sides as Jisoo gives the ice block and once-over and tightens his grasp on the metal. To think that mere moments ago, that witch was about to drop a fucking tree on him.

Something inside Seokmin twists at that, a territorial, savage kind of protective feeling that makes him think of life deep in the trenches of the sea, with fangs bared and fins tense and a powerful, silvery tail supporting him.

"Who's caught in the trap now, bitch?" Seokmin breathes, voice going soft, and he can see the moment a faint flickering of recognition and alertness begin to appear back in the witch's eyes. But before any of that could come to fruition, Jisoo lifts the poker and slams it into the ice with a hit so powerful it shatters everything instantly.

Grey dust bursts from the shards, coating the entire floor in awful dead witch grub, and the entire cabin seems to moan and crunch in on itself as the vines shrink and wither, peeling off the walls instantly and tumbling dead around them. Sawdust shakes from the rafters and there's the sound of glass shattering as the windows break under the enormous force of the cabin coming down.

"Seokmin!" Jisoo yells, grabbing him by the hand. "Let's go!"

He doesn't need to be told twice. Together, they leap for the busted cellar entrance, tearing down the underground passage as the sounds of the cabin collapsing echoes from behind. They burst back outside not a second too soon—the tunnel caves a moment later, crumbling into nothing but a pit of mush. The whole mountaintop seems to wobble, the ground liquifying underneath. It took the withering garden into the earth as well, and where the creepy cabin once was had become nothing but a skeletal remains of timber and dead vines. Seokmin hunches over, panting for breath. Talking about a close call.

"Ugh," Jisoo sighs, shaking the sleeves of his jacket. "I think I have dead witch dust all over me."

Seokmin bursts out laughing, heart warming under the sun and at the look of disgust on Jisoo's handsome face. The frost on his hair is melting in the warmer temperatures outside, and his eyes are back to their calm, homely brown Seokmin is so fond of.

"C'mon, hyung," he says, making his way towards the winding mountain path. "I don't know about you, but I'm dying to get out of these sweaty clothes and go for a nice hot soak back at the inn in the township."

Jisoo's eyes flash, and a grin curls the corners of his lips.

"I'll say. I'm looking forward to a glass of their finest wine to go along with my soak."

It's a good feeling, success. Seokmin's really just glad he didn't make a bigger fool of himself in front of his crush, and that he actually contributed to an assignment that didn't involve water. Him, a half-siren, helping take down a real witch! On dry land! His mother would be proud.

It takes him half a second to realize that his cheerful trek down the path is missing a companion, and when Seokmin turns, he sees Jisoo still standing at the top of the path, back towards him, looking towards the ruins.

"Hyung?" He calls, tilting his head. "Is everything alright?"

For a moment, Jisoo doesn't respond, and the breeze that drifts by grows a tad colder than expected, making Seokmin shiver. Then he turns, covering the space between them in brisk strides, and slings a companionable arm around Seokmin's shoulders.

"Just thinking of what I want to eat for dinner," he says cheerfully. "I heard the lamb skewers at the inn are very good, do you want to try some tonight? My treat!"

The satisfying journey back down Cackling Mountain and Jisoo's arm around him pushes any lingering thoughts out of Seokmin's mind, and he lets himself bask happily in promises of fire-cooked meat and iced wines Jisoo insists tastes better than the barrel-aged nonsense Minghao enjoys.

* * *

  
  
  
  
  


The earth is shifting uneasily.

From the trenches of the old, slimy cellar tunnel, the shadows are oozing, bubbling up onto the dying grass, and sickly black tendrils crawl, creeping over the ruins of the cabin, the dead vines, and down the path. A stench of sulfur and hot ash wafts with the wind, suffocating as hellfire itself.

But then, just as the first tendril inches to the top of the path, a flash of blue glows, and black is pushed back by a swift burst of ice. The tendril freezes in a spike, stopped by an invisible barrier before it could descend down towards the village.

All around the remains of the cabin, flashes of blue and bursts of ice begin to surround the dead land, trapping and freezing the tendrils as it crawls out of the pit where the witch’s cabin once stood atop Cackling Mountain.

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a larger series in my mind, but I wanted to write small pieces surrounding the members and different pairings first.
> 
> [This Jisoo](https://64.media.tumblr.com/4e6f47a638184fc92cd8120589d8ad3a/14af470e25be5b75-e0/s500x750/ac916001199e3e9fc7650d0425f7c21e22af0ab8.jpg) and [this Seokmin](https://youtu.be/nWuX78dZqfA?t=586). Maybe one day we'll see merman Seokmin!


End file.
